Introducing Aria Lynne! (Born July 3rd)

vbrooksutk · July 2012

My original due date was June 28th, although everyone that got a good look at me swore that I would have my baby early. (I carried super low the entire pregnancy, and my hips and pelvis were giving out at the very end.) Much to my despair and after two fruitless trips to L&D, June 28th rolled around and still no baby. =(

I called my OB on July 2nd and demanded a NST and BPP, and ended up spending the entire day in the hospital for a bunch of tests once they saw how much fluid I was losing. They sent me home at the end of the day with a diagnosis of wicked incontinence (eww) and scheduled my induction for July 5th.

The morning of July 3rd, I woke up and had to go to the bathroom. (It was basically like any other hour of any other day.) I leaked a little bit on the way to the toilet and actually groaned out loud... so annoyed at my bladder at this point. Well, it kept leaking even more than usual, which raised my eyebrows but didn't ring any major alarm bells since I'd already been to the hospital twice because of excessive leakage that ended up being nothing. Well, I kept leaking. And kept leaking even when my bladder felt totally empty. So I waddled back into the bedroom and woke up my husband with the news that my water might have broken - which he'd heard before and didn't seem all too impressed. I took a shower and felt like I was still leaking! At that point, I said BABE - seriously, I think my water broke. This feels different. So he hopped in the shower while I maneuvered into an overnight pad and the only maternity skirt that would still fit... and BOOOOOOMMMMM Niagara Falls traveled down to Connecticut and landed in my bedroom, because I went through that overnight pad and a towel in about two minutes flat.

BABE MY WATER SERIOUSLY JUST BROKE ALL OVER THE BEDROOM FLOOR WE HAVE TO GO NOW.

My poor husband walked into the bedroom to see me with a panicked look on my face, desperately holding a towel to my crotch and hobbling around to get a fresh set of clothes.

We finally got the car totally re-packed (sleep deprivation = bad) and were on the road by 8. I insisted on getting a huge breakfast at the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru and then we got stuck in rush hour traffic, and ended up at the hospital around 9:30am. I wasn't worried at this point - the contractions weren't regular, nor were they severe.

The nurses left me sitting on the bed for about 20 minutes while they dealt with some crisis or other, and I was starting to get really annoyed. My OB strolled in like heyyyy you think this is really it this time? And then he checked and was like, "Oh. Your water did actually break."

My "ideal" birth plan was (a) no induction - let baby come when ready, (b) no epidural, and (c) vaginal birth. Well... my water had broken and I hadn't progressed beyond 2cm 80% effaced over the past few weeks, so I agreed with my doc to go ahead and do the Pitocin. Oh my god. Once they doubled, quadrupled, octupled (is that a word?) the dosage and the contractions only had about 10-15 seconds between them, I could hardly breathe. My husband was terrified, my blood pressure skyrocketed, and I hadn't made any progress after several hours! Combine that with my platelet count having dropped to 77, and my OB told me to suck it up and get the epidural.

He didn't have to tell me twice.

The anaesthesiologist did a BEAUTIFUL job with my epidural. It "took" on the first try, and I was able to get to a perfect state after only one adjustment of the dosage. Around 8:00pm they told me I probably had several hours to go, but came in at 8:30 to check my catheter and look at how far I'd come since getting the epidural. The nurse was all chatty and got down there, and got quiet all of a sudden and said, "Um, you're totally complete. I have to go get the doctor now."

Me being as ridiculous as I am, I calmly told my husband to get my earrings (the ones he gave me as a wedding present) so I could put them on - how did I remember this??? - and after only 25 minutes of pushing our beautiful daughter was born at 9:35pm at 8 lbs 0 oz and 20.5 inches. Love her!

I did have a 2nd degree tear - totally underestimated the amount of time I'd need to recover from delivery itself - and am dealing with terrible hip and pelvic issues, but I would do it a hundred times to have such a sweet baby! Just... thank God for Tylenol and Percocet. =D

I'm glad I was able to just go with the flow on the actual day itself. Yeah, I had an ideal plan - but things didn't really go according to that plan, and in the end I'm so happy with how the experience went. I was able to feel the pressure and know exactly when to push, so it was a great team effort between my OB, the nurses, and myself - but I wasn't in pain. I did need a lot of stitches and then a shot because I couldn't stop bleeding, and almost ended up in the hospital for an extra day because my blood pressure was sky-high from perineal and back pain. But we all made it!

Quote of the day? Two minutes after delivery.

Ginny to OB (who is face-to-face with Ginny's crotch at the time): "So, did I tear at all?"

OB: (is delivering his fifth baby that day and looks up warily) "Ohhhhhh yeah."

Husband: "It looks like a war zone down there..."